Apparatus for polishing ball races



y 1951 c. c. MOORE 2,551,961

APPARATUS FOR POLISHING BALL RACES Filed March 30, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 8, 1951 c. c. MOORE APPARATUS FOR POLISHING BALL RACES 4 SheetsSheet 2 Filed March 30, 1949 May 8, 1951 c. c. MOORE APPARATUS FOR POLISHING BALL RACES 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 30, 1949 g e wa mil/4&1

I r I a my May 8, 1951 c. c. MOORE APPARATUS FOR POLISHING BALL RACES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 30, 1949 Patented May 8, 1951 UNITED STATES ,ssisi ATENT OFFICE Chester Charles Moore, Aurora, 11]., assignor to Stephens-Adamson -Mfg. 00., a corporation of Illinois ApplicationManchBO, 1949, Serial No. 84,313

2 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for polishing ball races, and has for its principal object to provide means for applying the polishing mate: rial with uniform pressure to the surface. of the race to be polished while it is spinning rapidly, and moving the polishing material back and iorthacross the surface while maintaining that uniformity of pressure.

Generally speaking; this isaccomplished by applying the polishing material with a tool head-r applicator fitted to and pressed against the surface of the race to be polished and rocked back and forth while the race is spun against it.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown as an attachment to a machine having'a rotary head. equipped; with. a clutch;.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig; 1;

Fig. 3' is a section on the line 33'of Fig; 2 showing the parts in" solid lines in the position they assume while idle and in dotted lines while applying the polishing material to an outer ball race;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view corresponding to the upper portion of Fig. 3' showing the tool applied to an inner race;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a tool head or applicator for use with the. grooves of an outer race;

Fig. 6 is a .perspectiueview. ot. a: tool head or applicator for use with an inner race;

Fig; 7 is a section on theline '!I of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of arr assembly including the; tool. the to,ol1'holder, andrthe rocker; and

Fig. 9. is a fragmentary portion, of Fig. 1 showing a variable throw drive for rocking the tool holder.

In Figs. 1,. 2; and 3, an outer ball race, indicated generally by A, is shown. as comprising a familiar ring In having an. internal groove H forming the actual race or track. for the balls. of the, ball bearing. The raceis shown supported by a magnetic clutch I2 driven by a head l3 of p a rozary spinning machine, generally indicated by I The polishing is done by applying the polishing material to the surface of the groove II at the bottom of the ring It by means of a tool or applicator urged downwardly under suitable pressure and rocked about an axis I5 lying in the medial plane of the groove II so as to move the polishing material from right to left and back again in Fig. 3.

This is done by using a tool head or applicator I6 (Fig. 5) secured to. a tool [1, shown in perspective in Fig. 8, mounted on. a holder I8 pivoted to rock about the axis I9 on the upper end of a rocker, generally indicated by 26, and including arms 2 I. and 22 pivoted at 23 on brackets 24 projecting outwardly from a vertically movable dovetailed slide 25 (Figs. 3 and '7) mounted to slide in an upright frame 26 having a dovetailed groove 21 on its front face.

The arms -2I and 22 are equipped with pins 28 (Figs. 1, 3, and 8) operating in cam grooves 29 in cam brackets 39 secured to the upright frame 26 by bolts 3| extending through slots 32 to allow for adjustment.

The slide 25 is here shown as in. two parts C and D connected by a link 33, and the whole being connected to a piston rodtfii of an air cylinder 35 supported on the main frame M of the machine, or otherwise.

By introducing air into the cylinder 35, the piston rod 34 is pulled downwardly, taking with it theslide 25 composed of the upper and lower parts C and D, and. the bracketsz l having the pivots 23 for the side arms 2i and'Z'Z of the rocker 20. That causes the pins- 28 to move along the cams 29 and swing the rocker withits-tool holder I8, toolv IT, and applicator it from the solid line position shown in Fig. 3 to the dotted line position shown in that figure.

The. tool holder I 8 with the tool I I and the tool head or applicator it are oscillated by a connecting rod 36* pivoted to the holder at 31 at one end-and to a variable throw crank 38 at 39 (Figs. 3 and 9). The crank, is driven by an electric motor mounted on a motor base M carried by the rocker 20, which motor has its speed stepped down by a reducing gear :83 driving the crank 38.

When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3, the applicator is pressed against the lower part oi the race surface I I by air, in the cylinder tliat an adjusted amount suited to the conditions, and the vertical portion 44 of the cam roove 39.-is long; enough to, preyentthe pins. 28 from becoming solid against their lower end, so that the application is made always under the yielding selected air pressure in the cylinder 35. While that pressure is maintained and the race is being spun by the clutch l2 at a suitable speed, the motor 411 drives the connecting rod 36, which oscillates the holder I 8 and therefore the tool I I and the applicator Iii to play the polishing material back and forth across the surface to be polished.

The applicator I 6 has the appropriate convexity in both directions to fit the groove II exactly, but in the right and left directions it has a greater extent, to the end that there is surface for acting upon the groove as the applicator is rocked about the axis 15.

In order to make the apparatus adaptable to races A of different sizes, the upright frame 26 is made adjustable back and forth, right and left, in Figs. 1 and 3 by equipping it with a dovetailed slide 45 (Fig. 2) running in the dovetailed grooves 46 of a split base plate 41 supported by brackets 48 secured to the frame I4 as by bolts 49.

Micrometer adjustment of its in and out position is afforded by a screw 50 extending through the threaded socket 5| on the base 4'! bearing against an adjusting nut 52 on the upright frame 26.

In actual practice, it has been found satisfactory to operate the apparatus automatically under control of a switch, which energizes the magnetic clutch I2, starts it spinning, introduces air into the cylinder 35, thereby moving the parts from the solid line position in Fig. 3 to the dotted line position, starting the motor 49 when the parts reach the dotted line position, continuing the operation through a suitable period, bringing the parts back to the solid line position, stopping the motor 40, stopping the spinning of the race, and de-energizing the clutch I2 in a suitable time period.

In polishing the inner races E (Fig. 4), which have the race groove 53 on the outer surface, an applicator 54, such as shown in Fig. 6, will be substituted for the applicator E 6 shown in Fig. 5, and the movement of the slide 25 will be such as to confine the pins 28 primarily to the vertical portion 44 of the cam grooves 29, there being no special reason for swinging the rocker outwardly to the right, as shown in Fig. 3, and operating on the inner races E.

As indicated in the drawings, the polishing material will be applied by a strip or band 55 of crocus cloth, or the like, threaded under the guide 56 on the tool I! and about the applicator l6, substantially as shown in Fig. 3, or the applicator 54 substantially as shown in Fig. 4; thence through a guide 51.

Lapping compound, chosen to suit the conditions, will be applied to the strip, or to the race, or to both.

Since the rocking or oscillating movement of the applicator is about the axis l5 on a long base between the arms 2| and 22 of the rocker and in the medial plane of the surface H to be polished, the polishing material is applied with extreme accuracy and moved back and forth, or from right to left in Fig. 3, while the race is spinning. The result is an extremely uniform polishing that gives the ball race a high degree of accuracy, reducing the friction to a very loW minimum. Similar ball races polished by prior art methods placed in a sound machine give evidence of a high degree of irregularity in the race surface, whereas ball races polished by this apa rotary head for spinning a ball race to be polished, a tool for applying polishing material to the ball race, a tool holder for said tool, support means mounting said tool holder for oscillation on said support about a first axis passing through said tool, said support means being swingable about a second single axis generally parallel to but spaced from said first axis and means on said support to oscillate the tool about said first axis independently of the position of said. support,

said second axis being defined by means mounted on a slide mounted for sliding movement toward and from said rotary head in a direction substantially normal to said axes to move said tool into and out of engagement with said ball race.

2. In apparatus for use with a machine having a rotary head for spinning a ball race to be polished, a tool for applying polishing material to the ball race, a tool holder for said tool, support means mounting said tool holder for oscillation on said support about a first axis, said support means being swingable about a second axis generallyparallel to but spaced from said first axis and means on said support to oscillate the tool about said first axis independently of the position of said support, said second axis being defined by means mounted on a frame on a slide mounted for sliding movement thereon toward and from said rotary head in a direction substantially normal to said axes, cam means fixed on said frame and engageable with a portion of said support to swing said support about said second axis in response to sliding movement of said slide on said frame to move said tool into and out of engagement with said ball race.

CHESTER CHARLES MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 838,250 Hudlow Dec. 11, 1905 1,325,789 Johnsson Dec. 23, 1919 2,076,601 Strong Apr. 13, 1937 2,252,096 Pew Aug. 12, 1941 2,258,037 Storz Oct. 7, 1941 2,398,022 Marren Apr. 9, 1946 2,435,565 Bautz Feb. 10, 1948 2,470,021 DAvaucourt May 10, 1949 

